Members Spotlight: BryanMetzger

Hi, I am Bryan Metzger, owner of Bryan Metzger Photo and Purrfect Pawtrait. I married my high school sweetheart Gabrielle, a hair stylist, and we live East of Cincinnati towards the Kentucky border. We have never lived anywhere else.

Rufus was my first bully, he was an engagement present to my wife.

She returned the gift and gave me Rocco for a wedding present two years later. Rufus is no longer with us and Rocco turns 7 on Aug 31st, 2013. You may recognize Rocco from some of the photo contests on here, bus advertising, buzzfeed, twitter, instagram, or bulldog websites. He is quite the model.

Photography has always been a hobby of mine. I also play guitar, piano, jiu jitsu, muay thai, as well as soccer several nights a week. The majority of my career life was devoted to the automotive business. Almost 17 years. It first started with sales, then finance, then management. At one point I oversaw productivity for 26 dealerships across the nation which brought me to the point of owning my own dealerships. Throughout the process of building my own business I realized how cost effective it would be if I studied and learned graphic design rather than hiring a team. Building my own website using my images from my photography hobby. Creating successful advertising campaigns with the same images. Designing and implementing customer relation management programs to ensure a satisfied customer every time. This was a long process that Rufus and Rocco accompanied me to its entirety. Whether at my feet, in a chair next to me, or in my lap they endured the same amount of computer screen time. I learned a lot of things that enhanced my photography work but never thought of it as a career. Sure I had scheduled shoots but my main business took the majority of my time. So much of my time that I know have too many regrets regarding time lost with Rufus.

Rufus suffered an unexpected battle with cancer at the young age of 7. Hemangio Sarcoma tumor that was blocking his colon so he could not go to the bathroom. It was a rollercoaster ride of events. He is Ok, He's not OK, we need to start radiation/chemo out of town, nevermind the biopsy came back fine. The ups and downs took their toll on me and resulted in the sale of my company. We ended up losing Rufus to the same cancer that was thought not to be life threatening in Nov 2011. I continued on in the automotive business while Photographing choice events for fun. Looking back on all my blog posts, emails, and social media I realized that when speaking of photography I always used the phrase for fun. 2013 and I still did not feel better about the time spent with Rufus after consuming myself with work. This year Rocco would turn the same age as Rufus was when he passed. I would not allow myself to have the same regrets with Rocco. More info on Rufus here http://bryanemetzger.wordpress.com/2...to-the-minute/

I met my wife when she was 17. We dated for many years prior to me finally asking her to marry me. I have no idea why she put up with the wait. We just celebrated our 7th anniversary and have actually only had 1 serious fight our entire relationship. It was a running joke with friends and family that I would postpone expanding our human family by trying to add Bulldogs instead. Our fight was that my wife dearly wanted to be a mother. It is not that I did not ever want kids but more that I did not feel the timing was right. I finally realized that the timing is probably never perfect and that my wife gives me everything that I want and has only asked for this one thing in return. In May of this year my wife gave birth to my daughter, Harper Willow Metzger. Time for a priority check.

I, the compulsive work-a-holic, will subject myself to 100 hour work weeks no matter what I do. Then it came to me, if I am going to work those hours... find a way to do from home. Photography would allow me to spend the countless hours editing and processing right next to Gabe, Harper, and Rocco. Combining my 3 loves of family, dogs, and photography into a career opportunity resulted in Bryan Metzger Photo starting Purrfect Pawtrait. A photography company dedicated to pets. I have so many great images of Rocco but mostly just horrable cell phone pics of Rufus. My goal with Purrfect Pawtrait is make sure that as many people as possible have detailed photographs as lasting memories of their fur kids. Even if it is not in the budget to hire Purrfect Pawtrait I provide tips to help people take better pictures with their phones on my Bryan Metzger Photo Facebook page. We are in the beginning stages of growing Purrfect Pawtrait, within the year we plan to be able to donate a % of sales to Bulldog Rescues in Rufus name. Currently I donate time, services, and product to local rescue groups to help more pets get adopted.

Bryan Factoids:

. I was reintroduced to photography when a friend took professional photos of my car. The results were amazing and I could no longer justify only using my point and shoot camera or cell phone. I actually purchased his camera.

. My brother, Kevin Metzger, now has the same obsession and has joined the Purrfect Pawtrait Pawtographer team

. If you are wondering the almighty question of what gear I prefer, it is Nikon. I shoot with a Nikon D600 primarily and a wide variety of Nikon/Nikkor and Tokina lens.

. I grew up with dogs. My first was Catie, an Irish Setter. I should probably apologize for trying to ride her, even when she was a senior.

. My mother painted oil paintings prior to her death when I was 15. This explains my creativity. She also painted a Michael Jordan action portrait for my birthday. I still have it.

. I play soccer 4 times a week

. I once lost 85 pounds in 6 months because I saw a picture of myself at the beach with Rufus and Rocco

. I am an apple enthusiast and can offer great advice and solutions. Currently I use a MacBook Pro, Airport Extreme, Apple TV, iPhone 5, iPhone 4, iPad, and several iMacs

Very nice article! I live in NKY, I'm going to check out your website. I need some good photos of my girl done! Rocco and Harper are both adorable.

Thank You! That would be awesome! Check out our model database page also as we always need bullies for commercial modeling. You get a complimentary session and still have the ability to purchase products as well.

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Originally Posted by DudleysMom

Love this -- both of your babies are gorgeous. I love the photo of Rocco kissing Harper!

Wonderful story Bryan! I grew up in Fairfield I moved from West Chester to Phoenix, AZ last summer. It was my second move to AZ in my lifetime. I don't foresee myself doing that drive again anytime soon, but we will certainly look you up if we find ourselves and the dogs in Cincinnati! I love seeing your pictures! I do, however, have to mention that I'm a PC